The invention pertains to a conveyor belt for use in a conveyor installation with a trough zone or the like, wherein the opposite sides of the conveyor belt are supported in an upwardly extending fashion by rollers or the like. The conveyor belt ends are connected to one another with a hinge joint or lacing, which consists of coupling eyes fastened to the conveyor belt ends, and at least one coupling rod or pin passing through associated coupling eyes, which are arranged in intermeshing order.
Conveyor belts for use in conveyor installations with a trough zone are well-known in the art, as exemplified in U.S. Pat. No. 3,175,358. In such installations, the coupling rod is formed in a one-piece construction, and the coupling eyes are fastened to each end of the conveyor belt, in closely spaced intervals, and extend along the entire width of the conveyor belt. A flexible coupling rod passes through the intermeshing coupling eyes of both conveyor belt ends. Starting from the drive pulley of the conveyor belt at the beginning of the conveyor installation, where the conveyor belt is essentially level, the conveyor belt then proceeds through a "trough zone" where the belt is forced into a laterally cupped or curved configuration by supporting rollers on both sides of the conveyor belt. The curvature of the conveyor belt is on a plane perpendicular to the transport direction of the conveyor belt, and is rendered possible because of the lateral flexibility of the coupling rod, and the clearance distance between adjacent coupling eyes.
The disadvantage of current conveyor belt designs is that the hinge joint or lacing in the curved or cupped area of the splice is exposed to increased wear, which significantly decreases the performance time of the lacing and associated conveyor belt. Also, in the cupped or curved section of the conveyor belt, the intermeshed pairs of coupling eyes, which form the splice, bend over and jam against each other, which tends to lead to even greater wear problems. It is easy to see that in the sides of the cupped section of the trough zone, where the conveyor belt is not directly supported, and where the rollers are set up in an obtuse angle, the conveyor belt, and thus also the hinge joint, are noticeably compressed into the space between the support rollers, because of the way the weight of the transported goods acts upon the conveyor belt and causes the pairs of fasteners to jam and bend even more.